Americans lost $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025, eight times more than in 2020, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Trade Commission.
Nearly 30% of Americans who reported being scammed last year said the scam came from social media, with Facebook most commonly identified as the social media platform behind the scam, according to the report. Other Meta-owned platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram, were ranked a distant second and third, the FTC said.
“In 2025, people reported losing significantly more money to Facebook scams alone than to text or email scams,” the commission said.
Scams originating from Facebook cost users $794 million in 2025, while WhatsApp and Instagram totaled $659 million in losses.
Representatives for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The FTC said social media scams largely fall into three categories: investing, shopping and romance. The largest amount of money – $1.1 billion – was lost to investment scams, often rooted in advertisements or publications offering a program to teach investment techniques.
Shopping scams were the most reported social media scam in 2025, with more than 40% of social media scam victims reporting being scammed into ordering something they saw in a social media ad – “everything from clothes and makeup to car parts and even puppies,” the agency said.
Romance scams are also popular on social media. Nearly 60% of people who fell victim to a romance scam in 2025 said it came from a social media platform. “Scammers often tailor their pitch based on people’s profiles, then inventing a crisis requiring money or casually offering investment advice to lure them to a fake investment platform,” the FTC said.
Every age group except those 80 or older reported losing more money to scams that started on social media than to any other contact method.
To avoid falling victim to social media scams, the FTC advises consumers to limit the number of people who can see their social media posts and contacts. Also, never let someone you only met on social media make your investment decisions.
And before you buy something you’ve seen advertised on social media, research the company with the FTC.
If you think you have been the victim of an attempted scam, report it to authorities, such as the FTC website.